Mobile Ministry Magazine

I've been playing with the Nokia N96 for the past few weeks, even going as far to having it replaced with a model with a later software update, and its been pretty cool. So much so in fact that if the battery were more efficient, and it had 3G (I am using the Euro spec one), I would give up my N95 for it.

Here's a rundown of the specs of the N96:

• 320x240 pixel color screen
• 16 GB of built-in internal memory
• microSDHC card slot supporting up to 16GB microSDHC cards
• 5 megapixel digial camera with LED Flash
• VGA video camera for video calling in supported markets
• Quad-band GSM, regional support for UMTS/HSDPA (the model I have supports European 3G, though there is a North American 3G supported version)
• Accelerometer
• Built-in GPS
• Wi-Fi via 802.11b
• Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and Stereo Bluetooth
• DVB-H digital TV tuner
• MicroUSB cable connection to PC

Now, before your eyes glaze over and say that this is way too much for a phone, let me emphasize that the N96 (and other Nokia N-series devices) are more than just simple phones. These mobiles are designed to facilitate the kind of interactive computing that you cannot get from just voice, nor from just sitting on a table in the corner of a room. Its a "get out and see the world" kind of device. This one just happens to make video a significant part of the experience.

The long and short of things with the N96 though center around the fact that it is indeed feature packed, but there are some limitations. For example, it has already seen some major software updates to address issues such as device speed and battery life. Its not (yet) as fast as my N95 in terms of most tasks. Nokia has a tradition of tweaking and tuning things over the course of the life of a mobile device, and so hopefully the N96 will see some of this attention.

The one area though that cannot really be helped is battery life. The battery is a small one (950mAh) compared to the on in my N95, and before the end of the day (with my usage patterns) its pretty much done. Most people should not have a problem though, and get a full day out of the N96 unless they are having a media heavy day (camera, video, Wi-Fi are big drains on the battery).

All is not bad with the N96 though. I found it easily able to replace my N800 Internet Tablet because of the 16GB of internal memory space. With the memory card slot, if I were to add an 8GB card, I would have as much space as my N800 right now. Also, there is more polish on the Symbian S60 software than on the Maemo that the N800 uses. That made it easier to live with the device, and pretty much do whatever I wanted to do.

Other positives included compatibility with most of the software that I usually use. I'm looking forward towards playing more with Nokia viNe as that seems specifically tuned to the N96 as well. Doing TV-Out was also more pleasurable than the N95 with crisper video and less lagging when using the web.

The N96 is not for everyone though. At a retail price of $800, its not exactly the most ministry friendly tool to just go out and get. And at the same time, its value in a ministry context, as with most smartphones, is just hard to measure. You can duplicate just about anything that you do with a phone, mp3 player, laptop, video camera, Internet terminal, cable box, etc. And then you can share it. The only limits are your imagination and the battery.

As stated earlier, I really enjoyed the N96. In some respects, its better than I expected. The down points are really down though. Nothing that cannot be overcome, but definitely takes some of the shine off of this top of the line device.

Makes me wonder what's next, and if there's another type of application of mobile tech like this that I've not yet explored.

Thanks to Nokia Blogger Relations for sending this device.

Labels: N800, N96, Nokia, review, smartphone